4 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
Please note that this book has been previously published as Awakening in 2012. A revised edition came out April 2017, and this is the version I am reviewing. There is a review on the forums for the 2012 edition.
In the prologue, it is December 1st, and we meet Sarah, the main character of the story, at a dinner party. Sarah is observing the scene around her, while also reflecting on the events of the past week. We quickly realize that something has happened to Sarah over the past seven days - something that has changed her life, as she battles feelings of joy and grief.
We then rewind time back to six days earlier - Monday, November 26th. We meet Sarah again, going about her daily business of walking her dog, Mags, in Cannock Chase, located in Staffordshire, England. It is during this walk, where we find that Sarah has been suffering from painful headaches since the Friday before, and now she believes she is hearing voices. As she goes about her day, we find that Sarah is also experiencing lapses in time, blackouts, strange for her behavior, visions of people, and a sense that something just feels off about her life. Eventually, Sarah begins to try to figure out what exactly is happening to her and her mind.
The story is written in third person, with Sarah being the main focus during the first third of the book. We are introduced to other characters along the way through Sarah's memories or interactions - Steve, Rachel, Rose, Graham, David and John - and each person is given a brief background or history as they are introduced, or shortly after introducing them into the story . I very much appreciated this, as it helped flesh out Sarah the people that compose her world.
During the first third of the book, which takes place from November 26th through November 28th, focuses on Sarah's struggle to find out what is happening to her. The reader is not given any clues as to what is happening to Sarah either, and I found it humorous that at one point, Sarah echoed my thoughts exactly as to possible reasons to explain her situation. The second and third sections of the book the author takes us from following Sarah, to following a few other characters as well. While sections of the book shifts focus to other characters, Sarah does remain central to the story.
I wish I could say more about the book, but that would spoil the plotline.
The story does not leave on a cliffhanger, however, there is enough of a question left at the end of the story, that I believe will be addressed in his second novel, called Re-Union, which has not been released yet.
I give this book 4 out of 4 stars . I would say this book could be classified as a psychological mystery. I rushed through the first part of the book, eager and impatient to figure out what was going on with Sarah, and once the situation was revealed, I sped through the second half of the book to see how and what would happen. I absolutely love the author's writing style and how he executed the story. I very much look forward to more from this author.
I did not see any grammatical errors, nor any formatting errors in the Kindle version. I recommend this book for anyone who loves psychological suspense novels.
******
Song of the Robin
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like Fullsunmoon's review? Post a comment saying so!
